Australia - Week Six

I left Noosa last Sunday feeling a bit guilty – I hadn’t had chance to properly explore the town and National Park because I’d gone to Australia Zoo. I’d done the same in Brisbane and also didn’t really explore Coolie either as I was so exhausted from Murwillumbah. I wish I’d have gone to the zoo directly from Brisbane and then arrived in Noosa on Friday evening, so I could have had Saturday there instead. Damn hindsight, I’m having a fantastic trip, but it’s so annoying when you think how things could have been better had you done them differently. I could have easily have spent my original 6 weeks going up the East Coast, but never mind, I’ll get to see Western Australia in February and that will be another great adventure!

Anyway, I arrived in Hervey Bay on Sunday afternoon and greatly appreciated the shuttle bus that collected me from the Greyhound terminal, and the welcome drink and cake at check in! Shame the dorm that I was put in was like a furnace, with the tiny fan merely pushing the hot air around! Welcome to Queensland! It was a weird setup as well as there was a door leading to the outside and another on the opposite wall connecting to the kitchen, so it was a bit of a thoroughfare for many guests! Plus, I overhead a conversation about how 3 girls had been robbed in that room just a night or two before, probably as one of the guests had forgotten to lock one of the doors. So, I got all packed ready for Fraser Island that night and locked all my other belongings away in the hostel’s secure locker room!

On Monday morning, I was collected at 8am by The Fraser Island Tour Company and it was great to see a friendly face waving at me from the bus – it was Lotte (Denmark), who I had met in Noosa the day before! We were soon on the ferry on our way to the world’s largest sand island. We drove along the bumpy sandy tracks through the forests in Mog, the company’s trusty jeep-bus, then after a delicious buffet lunch, along Seventy-Five Mile Beach before trekking over the desert-like sandblows to Lake Wabby, an emerald lake coloured green from algae and nitrates. Then it was time to visit the wreck of the Maheno, washed up right at the water’s edge. We arrived at camp at about 4.30pm and I was delighted to find that inside my tent, was a wooden decking floor, two beds with crisp sheets and fluffy towels and an electric light, more luxurious than many of the places I had stayed in so far!

Lake Wabby, Fraser Island

Dinner was another delicious buffet cooked by our guide, Barry, consisting of steak, potatoes, salads, garlic bread, ice cream… wonderful! I really enjoyed the evening chatting with Lotte and some more new Danish friends, Mike and Stinne. Mike hates Manchester United, so we had a common interest right from the word go! They are also travelling on to New Zealand and parts of South America, but unfortunately, our paths won’t cross over there – although I’m hoping to bump into them up in Cairns at some point!

On Tuesday, it was an early start so that we could set out and see all the remaining sights in good time. The massive huntsman spider that I had spotted the night before in the dining area was still there, and everyone else was now enthralled with it. It was huge and you can imagine my screams of terror as it raised its rear end and squirted a jet of something out at me standing below. Not nice! Moving swiftly on… On our second day we went to Champagne Pools, Indian Head (saw lots of Manta rays but no sharks, damn it!), Eli Creek and Lake Garawongan (or something like that), this time a lake coloured brown from the tannins in the trees growing around it, with a low pH that made your skin feel soft and you could polish jewellery to a high shine in the fine silica sand!

It had been a great trip, and I was thoroughly worn out by the time I arrived back at Hervey Bay that evening. I retrieved my backpack from the locker and the staff kindly let me use the showers and facilities, even though I’d already checked out, as I waited to take the free shuttle back to the Greyhound stop. Unfortunately, the onward leg to Airlie Beach was the only one that I didn’t get my first choice of bus, the 8.25pm, arriving at 9.35 the following morning! As it turned out, Lotte, Mike, Stinne and myself were all in the same boat and had to take the half past midnight service, meaning it would only be mid afternoon by the time we arrived in Airlie Beach, wasting another day! But, we all met up at the Greyhound stop early, making the most of the free shuttles and at least having some friendly company for the 4 hour wait!

Now, Queensland is rather hot, but it decided to hammer it down whilst we waited and the temperature plummeted, so I bundled myself onto a bench, covered myself with my Jet Star blanket and shivered away as I waited for the bus to arrive, all the time praying that I wouldn’t catch a cold and therefore be unable to dive at the weekend! It was great relief when the bus arrived and we could finally board and head further north. It was glorious weather again when we arrived in Airlie and as it happened, if I had been on the earlier bus, I wouldn’t have been able to check in anyway until 1.30pm, so I didn’t lose much in the end. I then had to organize a day trip to the Whitsundays for Thursday and it was forecast heavy thunderstorms. So, I had a dilemma – should I go on that day, the only chance I had and get soaked and have not good photos of Whitehaven beach, or save the money and spend a day in Airlie?

I made the right choice in the end, as I went out on board the Mantaray, who had a great crew and by some miracle,the rain held off and there were glorious blue skies with fluffy white clouds over the beautiful sands of Whitehaven. It was truly a paradise, as featured in the Australian Tourism TV commercial, the one that got banned in the U.K. because the girl on the beach said “So where the bloody hell are ya?” LOL! Some trivia folks – NASA was granted permission by the Australian Government (in return for a huge grant) to take over 5 tons of sand from Whitehaven. It is 98% pure silica, the purest in the world and they used it to make the lens for the Hubble telescope. The sand is only found on Whitehaven and another island across the water from it and it comes from Fraser Island, being so pure and fine, it is carried hundreds of kilometers up the coast by the sea and deposited in the Whitsundays!

The World's Most Beautiful Beach?

That afternoon, I snorkeled on the reef and saw some cool fish, a huge Napoleon Maori Wrasse and big parrotfish, which could be clearly heard munching away at the coral. It was a fantastic day and I was glad I went on the one trip that I was least bothered about in terms of saving money! It was absolutely stunning over there, hopefully one day I'll be able to come back and spend more time sailing around all the islands!

There’s a pattern forming here – on Friday I had another early start to catch a Greyhound to Townsville, and I left Airlie Beach, not having had enough time to explore it properly! So that was the fourth place in a row that I had sped in and out of, feeling guiltier and guiltier every time. So I need to come back to Australia sometime in the future to do it again at a slower pace, which believe me, would be absolutely no hardship whatsoever! It was easy-peasy to get over to Magnetic Island from Townsville: the Greyhound stopped at the ferry terminal, and then once on the island, a bus took me straight over to my accommodation at Bungalow Bay Koala Village YHA.

I spent the afternoon chatting to my new roommates and I met Sophie (UK) just before the daily rainbow lorikeet feeding time! Well, I was in my element, I love these colourful little birds and I've fed them before at Paradise Park in Cornwall. "They like to nip, you know" I generously advised Sophie, "yes, they can give you quite a peck!" As it happened, lorikeets in the wild don't peck at you like the captive-bred ones in the UK do... oh no, they just have claws like needles instead and when ten are perched along your arms and they decide to fight amongst themselves, they grip on really hard for balance... OUCH! Most of the other guests left the feeding area after about ten minutes, but I was determined to spend as much time with the birds as possible, until all the soggy bread had gone! So although by the end of it, my arms were shredded and raw from their claws, I spent a good hour with them, I just love wildlife!

This morning, I was up early and back at Nelly Bay to go diving on the SS Yongala! The sea was reasonably calm and the rain was clearing up. After a couple of hours, we all geared up and buddied up and in we jumped. I turned round to the guys on the boat to signal them my OK sign (just as I had learned in Ko Tao) and they all screamed "GET TO THE LINE!!!" at me! The current was extremely strong, and we were in danger of being rapidly swept away. When I made it to the guide rope, I was incredibly out of breath and, for the first time whilst diving, I started to panic. I couldn't breathe enough through my regulator and I felt like the wetsuit was squashing my ribcage. Aron, or dive guide asked if we were ready to descend, and I had to stop him, I was quite scared about going down... I then thought about how much I'd spent to be there, and that soon got rid of that thought!!!

Luckily, I then realised that in the rush to swim to the rope, I had forgotten to inflate my BCD, so there I was, struggling away with 6kg in weights strapped around my waist, trying to catch my breath in a really strong current, doh! Once inflated, I started to calm down and we began our descent. Within a few moments, I was soon back in the zone and diving as normal! The wreck soon appeared and we were diving with huge wrasse, turtles, olive sea snakes and many more. Unfortunately, after only 20 minutes on the wreck, we had to turn back as some of the people in the group were low on air. It was really disappointing to get back on the boat after only half an hour with nearly half a tank of air left! Little did I realise, that if I'd had just two more dives under my belt, I wouldn't have needed to go with a guide and so would not have been put in a group with divers even less experienced than me! You live and learn, I guess.

We did get a little more time on the wreck that afternoon, but it was still quite a short dive. We did see some more amazing fish though and loads of barracuda. By the way, the olive sea snake is apparently the world's most venomous snake and I have swam with them. (Admittedly, they can't actually open their mouths wide enough to bite you, but that can be our little secret!) It was an amazing dive site, but due to the fact that I had such little time there and the low visibility today, it is another thing I have to come back to Australia for to do again! Really, I think I need to seriously work out how I can live here, where do I apply for a work visa?!!

Australia - Week Five

After scaling Mount Warning, I was thoroughly ruined on Sunday! I was meant to kayak on the Tweed River, just beside the hostel, but I could barely rouse myself from bed that morning! I also meant to have a wander around Murwillumbah, but there was no energy left for that either - so I spent the afternoon doing a 750 piece jigsaw, which of course, me being me, I couldn't stop until I had completed it and added the final piece!

Anyway, it was gone 6pm by that point and I felt bad that I hadn't been out kayaking, but Tassie found me and said that if I wanted, I still had a little time before sunset to have a bit of a paddle. So out I went, not far downstream and back, but it was a lovely time of evening to be out and I saw a tiny little kingfisher flit through the riverbank undergrowth, and a spoonbill, which I thought was only seen on the savannahs of Africa!!!

"How do I get out of this thing?!!"

It was a great wrench to have to leave Murwillumbah and Tassie as I had really enjoyed my time there and felt very much at home, but northward I had to continue to Coolangatta. I was at the bus stop nice and early for the Greyhound, as usual – shame it was 40 minutes late though! Especially as I missed the free shuttle pick-up in “Coolie” and had to take a public bus there with all my bags, which by this point were roughly 20kg (if not more) in total! Plus, the bus didn’t drop me off outside the YHA, so I had a bit of a trek there and I must have looked a sorry state as a local lady asked if I was OK and if I wanted to pop in for a swim to cool off!

By the time I’d checked in at Coolie, I was still exhausted from the surfing, walking, climbing and kayaking so I managed to do a big load of laundry and that was about it for the day! On Tuesday I headed down to the beach, from where I could see the high rises of Surfers Paradise in the distance. The sea was pretty choppy, so I spent most of the morning reading on the golden sands. I think I’ve read at least 8 books now since I’ve been away, shame the damn things are so bulky to carry! That afternoon, I took the free shuttle back into the main town to the local mall. I was quite amused to see signs in the windows saying that their opening hours were based on New South Wales time – especially as I had crossed the border into Queensland by this point, an hour behind NSW as they don’t have daylight savings time here. Funny old Aussies!

I decided that I’d leave my shopping and so on until 4.30, so I didn’t have to carry around all afternoon, which was plenty of time before the bus returned at 5pm. I was rather annoyed to find that the post office had shut when I returned… and then it hit me… all the shops closed at 4pm QLD time, because I wasn’t in Coolangatta anymore, I was in its twin town of Tweed Heads, in New South Wales!!! - hence the notices about the opening hours. What a pillock I was! Doh!

The next day, I was up early again to move on to Brisbane. My bus was due at 11 am, but the closest free shuttle from the YHA was at 8am! I didn’t fancy the public bus ride back again, loaded up like a pack horse, so I braced myself for the 3 hour wait! I got chatting to some other backpackers who were due to catch the 8.30 Greyhound and one suggested I asked their driver if he had space to take me early – which luckily he did! So I was off to Brisbane hours ahead of schedule without a boring wait in the blistering sunshine!

After trying to check into the wrong hostel in Brisbane (whoops!), I was soon in the YHA which was really friendly and pleasant. I spent the afternoon trying to work out a plan for the remaining fortnight along the East Coast, plus a tour for Ayers Rock, as I only had planned up to Noosa, the next port of call. I went into the YHA Travel shop and found out that all the tours for Ayers Rock start there but finish in ALICE SPRINGS or vice versa!!! I don’t need to go to Alice Springs; I need to fly in and out of Ayers Rock Airport and a transfer from Alice back there would be $100, completely negating any benefit of booking the flights in the U.K. rather than out here! Apparently, a lot of tourists make the same mistake; it’s a shame that AUStravel (note the AUS part) didn’t tell me this last June!

Luckily, I found one company that starts and ends their tour in Ayers Rock Resort, phew. Except they don’t go on Mondays… they only day I’d be able to start the tour. So, I had to phone my friends at Qantas AGAIN and shift the flights there and back one day forward, which they did with no problems at all! By this point, the YHA Travel branch had to close, so I pledged to return the next day and book the Rock tour and all my other bits and pieces up the coast, as everything had to work with military precision for the next two weeks if I was to fit in all the trips I had planned! Back I went at opening time on Thursday and it was 1pm before I left, $1500 lighter! I decided to throw caution to the wind and do Cape Tribulation, Fraser Island AND The Whitsundays, plus a really expensive dive trip to the SS Yongala wreck, Australia’s top dive site and the world’s best wreck dive according to National Geographic. Well, when in Rome…

So I didn’t really get to see Brisbane properly as I had only enough time to visit the South Bank briefly and go to “Game On”, an exhibition about the history of computer gaming, at the State Library. I was in my element, as was Hannah (UK), my Brisbane roommate who was similarly geeky enough to be enthralled with all the consoles and a chance to play Pac Man on an original arcade machine!!! I liked the South Bank including its fake beach as it was full of Brisbaners and their families have a great time in the pools and sunshine. It beats Bridge Street in Warrington any day. Hannah and I grabbed some food at one of the open air cafes there and I was greatly amused by the “DO NOT FEED THE IBIS” signs! Not pigeons or seagulls… IBIS!!!

Then off I went again to Noosa, at 6.30! Well, I thought I may as well get there nice and early to make the most of Friday there, before heading to Australia Zoo on Saturday. So when I arrived at 9.30, I was gutted to find that I could only check in at half past noon, so although I could store my luggage until then, I didn’t have a place to sort through my bags and take out what I needed for the day. By the time I did check in, it was so hot and humid that I had little energy for a walk in the national park. I decide to take advantage of the free surfboard hire instead, seeing as I had lessons and all.

Well, what a disaster! By the time I made it down to the beach and along to the surfing area, my arms had nearly fallen off with the weight and size of the board, plus it was fairly windy, so it took all my strength not to whack half of the people on the beach in the head with the damn thing! At last, I found a spot to surf, so off I went into the swell, only to find that even though the hostel’s board was big, it was tiny in comparison to the one I had learnt on and so I couldn’t even get my feet on it, never mind stand up! After about 20 minutes of flailing around like a Pommie prat on one of Australia’s smartest and surfiest beaches, I gave up in embarrassment and read some more books on the beach.

The Irwins

Today I finally went to Australia Zoo, home of Steve Irwin the Crocodile Hunter. It was hilarious watching old episodes of his show on the courtesy bus there, but also incredibly sad, knowing that the world has lost such a remarkable character. I’m glad everyone else on board seemed to be equally as engrossed in the programme, so as not to see the old tear or two roll down my cheeks! The zoo is great, I watched the Croc show in the Crocoseum, presented by Terri, Bindi and little Robert Irwin. He’s a little tyke, father like son! I spent plenty of time wandering around all the animals and I especially enjoyed feeding, stroking and just sitting with the kangaroos and wallabies. I still like eating them though!

Australia - Week Four

Well, phones aren't so bad after all, especially in Australia, as I must say, Aussies are quite possibly the friendliest and most helpful people in the world (at least those in the service industry anyway!) Good job really! The overnight bus to Ballina was again fine, and Len from the Ballina Traveller's Lodge came to collect me from the Greyhound stop in his shiny red 4x4! I was soon checked in to a tiny little YHA with immaculately clean facilities and a friendly, homely atmosphere. Ballina is a small, typical Australian suburban town and I fell in love with it from the start.

Michelle kindly spent time calling other YHAs trying to find me a room, as by now, Brisbane was fully booked! So, after Byron Bay, I'm off to Murwillumbah and Coolangatta for 5 days before Brisbane, and I can't wait as since leaving Sydney and hitting small-town Oz, I am really starting to enjoy it here! Anyway, after all that was sorted, I hired a bike and off I went along the coast, riding past beach after beautiful beach! Seriously, dear reader, if you ever make it to the East Coast, you must stop here and stay at the YHA - it's not a party town, but it's so beautiful and so friendly!

On Monday, I was off on the bike again to go Geocaching - it just so happened that I'd already ridden past most of the caches the day before, but never mind! I also stopped off at the Thursday Tea Tree Plantation, so now I know what the plant I rant and rave about actually looks like! It was good to get back to the hostel after a good 5 hours riding in the sun, (Mum, please note I was wearing factor 30 sunscreen and a hat all day!) That evening, I met Sophie from Denmark and I invited her to join me in my dinner preparations - barbecued kangaroo!!!

Well, I've been wanting to try it since I arrived in Oz, and I've not seen it anywhere, except a local kindly pointed out that Woolworths sell it, along with beef, chicken... doh!!! So, I purchased two large steaks, pre-marinaded in garlic and herbs for just over $5!!! That's miles cheaper than beef in the UK! I was also advised to cook it rare, as overdone roo (as it was listed on my shopping receipt, LOL) is incredibly tough! I was pleased that when Sophie and I woke up on Tuesday morning, we weren't ill with food poisoning as I swear, the kangaroo was raw!!! Next time, I'll perhaps not err on the side of caution quite so much and wait until it's not blue in the middle! It was delicious though and apparently very healthy and environmentally friendly. It is a lean meat with no cholesterol, and kangaroos take up less space than farmed cattle AND produce no methane. So there, skeptics!!!

Throw Another Roo On The Barbie!

It was quite a wrench to leave Ballina as I could quite easily had stayed there for much, much longer; that's the downside of booking onward accommodation but here at this time of year, you just have to or crash on the beach instead! So, Len kindly took me, Stina and Isabel (my Norwegian roomies), back to the Greyhound stop for the onward leg to Byron Bay. Yet again, I found myself at a small, friendly YHA with a pool and a great atmosphere! I was first to check into the room, so I bagged the only single bed in there, after spending the last 3 in bunk beds! HA! I then walked up to cape Byron Lighthouse and spotted my first wild dolphins far away in the surf below me! Of course, I also walked to the most easterly spot in Australia and logged it on my GPS! That's the furthest east I have ever been in my life... until New Zealand that is.

I had a lovely dinner of peanut butter sandwiches (again) that evening and met up with some great new people - Chris and James (Sydney), John (London), Lore (Italy) and Penny (Rotherham). It's hard to believe that in 12 nights in Sydney in a YHA with 500 people, I spoke to maybe only one or two other guests that weren't in my dorm! Yet here in Byron, within a few minutes of going to the kitchen, I was chatting away to a table full of new people! I really don't understand how people come to Oz for a year and never leave Sydney, what a waste!

On Wednesday, it was an early start as I had my first surfing lesson! Yes folks, I finally got a chance to wear the lovely turquoise and chocolate brown rash vest that I impulsively bought in Ko Tao! And I certainly looked the part. It was great fun, although I would spend about 5-10 mins struggling to get into the sea far enough, just to be knocked off the board again within about 5 seconds! I kind of stood up for a few seconds, sort of... I was just glad that I had booked two lessons! Luckily, Thursday's lesson went much better as I had more time in the water, although until I realised that I was trying to catch the waves before they had broken (and subsequently kept getting dumped), I was incredibly frustrated and smacked the board a few times! But eventually, I was riding the waves like a pro... sort of!!

The Mojosurf Crew, Lennox Head

That evening I was thoroughly knackered, especially as I'd walked back up to the lighthouse, before my surfing lesson, to go Geocaching. I met Lisa (Scotland), Pia (Switzerland) and Artur (Germany) and dinner and it transpired, through talking about going out, that we girls just preferred a quiet night in with good friends and a bottle of wine. "So why don't we stay here and get some wine, then?" was my retort and so ensued the best night I've had away so far, hilarious fun with three bottles of Semillion Sauvignon Blanc, nachos and salsa! The highlight of the night had to be when Lisa kindly topped up our glasses, and it was quite a while before we realised that we had finished our wine and she'd someone else's wine who had joined our table! Luckily, Riccardo (Brazil) was very magnanimous about it and a new friendship was formed (although Lisa was still apologising about an hour later!

On Friday, I had free time before my afternoon bus to Murwillumbah, so I spent an easy day perusing the shops with Pia. I bought myself an authentic boomerang, which I will (as soon as I find a nice open space big enough) will be trying out. The bus journey that afternoon was pleasant enough, as I was only going one stop north. The short walk to the hostel was less so, as now my bag is back to stupid proportions, there was not an iota of space left in it and barely five minutes of it on my back is torture. Plus, I've got an overflow shopping bag, so it is a far cry from the way I had got all my junk down to a neat 13kg in KL!

Anyway, the YHA at Murwillumbah has to be the most charming place I have stayed in so far, it reminded me of the dorms I used to stay in on Brownie camp. Tassie was a most welcoming host and after a quick trip to the supermarket, I was busy preparing a Greek salad and kangaroo kebabs in the little kitchen! Plus, I had to make chciken sandwiches ready for the next day's expedition to Mount Warning!

This morning, I set off with Tassie at 10am to the mountain, the highest caldera in the Southern Hemisphere, whereby I heard a fascinating commentary about the area on the way there, superbly pre-recorded onto tape by Tassie! At the car park, we arranged to meet there again at 3.30pm, which gave me 2 hours to get up the mountain, 2 hours doen with enough time for lunch at the top. The going was a little tough at first as I got used to the exercise, but soon I was making steady progress up the trail. The final 100m section was a challenge though - an almost sheer rockface with only a chain for support... but I couldn't get so far and not make it up the the peak!

So off I went, hanging on for dear life, wondering how on Earth would I be able to make it back down that stretch, but at last it was all worth it as the views from the summit were spectacular! Tassie had advised me to begin my descent at 1.30 to ensure i made it back to the car park on time. To be on the safe side, especially as the return down the chain was concerning me, I set of at 1.15, which was a good job as it took me an hour just to descend ¼ of the way down!!! That left just over an hour to make the remaining 75%, which by some miracle, I semi-sprinted down and was back with time to spare! I tell you what though, I am feeling it now. Goodness knows how stiff I will be tomorrow...

Australia - Week Three

Well, what a week! After I got back from Glebe last Saturday, I decided that I really needed to make a move and call Qantas to reorganise my flights. I'd spent the previous week trying to plan my route up the East Coast and so I couldn't set anything in stone until I'd definitely moved around my trip to Ayers Rock, etc. After procrastinating in front of the phone for about ten minutes, I finally dialled their number and sat on hold for a while, my heart thumping loudly in my chest. Yes, I may be able to make it across South East Asia on my own, and then into Australia, but I'm still terrified of the telephone!

Anyway, soon I was chatting to a lovely lady who was incredibly helpful. She kindly moved my flights to Ayers Rock, Sydney, Fiji and Christchurch forward with no problems at all. Wow, so that would give me 6 less weeks over here once I moved the flight from Auckland to Santiago from 28th April to 15th March. But there was no available flight on that day, not to worry, I'm flexible I say! None on the 16th, 17th, 18th... none a week earlier... So she says hang on a second...

"I have a free seat on 21st April?"

So at that point, my carefully laid plans unravel, one less week in NZ is not helpful and now that I've moved Ayers Rock and Fiji forward, I'd actually have extra time there. "OK, move the Santiago flight one week forward, but scrap the other changes" I croak, as there'd be no point getting there any earlier. She sounds really sorry and advises me to phone up on a regular basis just in case any cancellations come up.

Back to square one, except by now I am in a complete tizz about it, I just cannot handle the thought of being in Australasia until April, there'll be no money left for South America!!! I go over and over and over all alternative possibilities in my head:

1) Redo the plan up to Cairns and just take 2 weeks longer
2) Move all flights forward anyway and hope for a cancellation
3) Move only Ayers Rock forward and hang around in Sydney for 2 weeks more
4) Find a cheap flight back into Asia and kill a month doing the bits I missed

But there are problems:

1) I cannot see how to take more time doing the East Coast
2) I cannot risk being in NZ for nearly 3 months
3) I have already spent 12 nights in Sydney
4) There are no such things as cheap flights to Asia from Australia

After three sleepless nights and a few days of not getting anything productive done at all, I reach a decision. To cut a long story short, I call Qantas back and move Ayers Rock forward, leave Fiji as it is but add on a few more days and knock my Santiago flight forward to 19th April, saving two whole days!!! So I'm flying back to Sydney in February for 3 weeks, but during that time, I've booked myself a return flight to Perth for a fortnight!!!

Well, I have friends out there who have kindly offered to show me around Western Australia and put me up for a spell. Luckily, I got a very good deal on the flights and I'll see a part of the world that I didn't think I'd get the chance to visit on this trip. More boxes I can tick! Then, on Tuesday, I had another mini disaster as all the accommodation in Byron Bay for next weekend was already booked solid. I had a room, but in the time it took me to go to the ATM, it had gone, so I'm off to Ballina (where?) for 2 nights and then Byron Bay for 3. You can't just turn up in a town and get a room like you could in Asia, so I really need to be on the ball here. I did feel 300% better though, just having plans for the next 10 days!!!

Anyway, that's enough about that now... Happy New Year! On Tuesday, I made myself a pile of peanut butter sandwiches, pasta and packed a bag with suncream, Sprite and blankets, all ready for the following morning. At 6am on New Year's Eve, I got up, sneaked out of the dorm as quietly as possible, had breakfast, and made it up to Macquarie Point to get the best view of the NYE fireworks as possible. My friend Stacey, who has done the whole Sydney New Year thing, advised me that she arrived at 9am and only made it to the entrance gates at midday, the queue was that big.

Hence my early start. I got there at 7am and the queue was already quite large, but I was reasonably near the front, all I had to do was wait until 10am for the gates to open. I had a good book and sandwiches and a quilt to sit on - no problem. At 9.20, everyone stood up for some reason and surged forward, so hundreds of people pushed in at either side of the queue. I was then stood up until 11.30 in a huge crush of people, in blistering heat!

Top Spot!

Finally, I made it through into the gardens after 4½ hours and thought there would be no way that I was in the first 3,000 people - the magic number out of 20,000 who can get access to the restricted viewing area. Imagine my surprise as I sprint into the gardens, knowing that the best spot in the place (that I had spied out on a recce days before) would not be available by now, to find that there are armbands left for the restricted area and as I enter, there is a grassy slope right next to the harbour with a clear view of the Bridge, Opera House and lots of SKY!!! I decided to stop right there, not wanting to risk losing the spot on the off chance there might be something better ahead.

So, only 12 more hours to kill. I survived a stupid madam sitting on my feet, not taking the hint when I kicked her; I survived the idiot Chinese tourists with massive lenses and tripods camping right in my eyeline; I survived the incredibly hot sun, beaming down from a cloudless, cornflower blue sky... I made some great new friends and spent the hours chatting about travel, South America, Central America, idiot Chinese tourists...

So, it was actually great fun on the hill, waiting for the most famous fireworks in the world. Eventually midnight arrived...

Happy New Year 2009

Well, I want to be really positive here, but I will be honest instead! It was worth the wait as I had a great day and met some great people and I can tell my grandkids that I camped out in a great viewing spot for New Year's Eve in Sydney. But... 17 hours is a loooooong time to wait for a ten minute display firework display that didn't even start at the stroke of midnight! You'd think after 15 months of planning and several million dollars that the first bang would go off on zero in the countdown!! They were impressive, but everyone who had ever spoke about it seemed to make is sound a million times more impressive... I really need to start having no preconceptions about stuff on my travels, as invariably I am disappointed.

However, although I never need to do it again, I am chuffed that I did it, and did it properly, no swanning along at the last minute for a tiny glimpse. In fairness, I have watched a video for the display taken from a helicopter, and then it really was impressive, but I don't think that was a plausible way for me to see them. London's were better anyway apparently...

I've had a couple more lazy days in Sydney, no need to rush as I'll be back here again in February! I went to Coogee Beach again yesterday, and had my first swim in the Pacific! I'd been to Collaroy Beach on Monday, but a storm set in just as I arrived, so no sunbathing for me then. I've not had much luck with the weather and beaches - after only a few hours in Coogee yesterday, the clouds rolled back in and the wind chill made it positively wintry!

So tonight I will take the overnight Greyhound bus to Ballina. I checked out at 10am this morning and so I've had 12 hours to kill. I went to the cinema to watch Marley & Me - a film about a dog, so of course I cried my eyes out. Might go back in a bit to watch another movie, but we'll see. It's not cheap at $16 a pop! Ballina wasn't part of the original plan, but it is supposed to be a pretty little town, the staff at the YHA will even come to collect me from the bus stop...

...although I have to make a call to them when I get there in the morning.

Damn phones...

Australia - Week Two

The overnight bus to Sydney was brilliant! Lots of legroom, a movie to watch and the friendliest, funniest driver ever - it was a far cry from Vietnam (shudder)!!! I arrived in Sydney just after 7am on Monday morning and was dropped off right outside my hostel. Luckily, they have reasonably-priced lockers here, so I was able to dump my bags here, rather than carry them around the city until check-in at midday.

So, what does one do when one has time to kill in Sydney? Well, I walked all the way from the city centre to Mrs. Macquarie's Chair to take in the most famous of all urban Australian sights - the Opera House and Harbour Bridge! Impressive to say the least...

Sydney Harbour

After that, I strolled back towards the city centre via the Botanical Gardens and was amazed by its collection of grey-headed flying foxes (or bloody huge bats in simple terms!) They're like pterodactyls, hanging in the trees upside down, fanning themselves with their huge, leathery wings!!! By midday, I was back at the youth hostel and had checked in. The dorm is very spacious and looked fine, although I didn't hang round for long as I was off out again exploring! I walked the the GPO to collect some post, proving that the Post Restante system does indeed work, and then back to Circular Quay to pick the brains of the Tourist Info people - after all, with over a month in Australia, what does one do? In fact, what does one do in Sydney for 12 days? Why is one calling oneself one all through this blog entry??? Moving on...

I returned to the hostel that evening, having covered at least 5 miles (if not more) on foot. I also had a huge pile of pamphlets and brochures to go through. Time for a nap! On Tuesday, it was surprisingly grey and overcast, so it was high time I did some laundry. No longer 50p per load I'm afraid... I spent most of the afternoon poring over the info I had collected and making detailed notes and planners. After the initial shock in Melbourne at the cost of Australia, I've been well under budget this week, so feeling much better about that. So, I've basically decided the total amount I can spare for Australia and then I've started to deduct the cost of the essential things I want to do: learn to surf in Byron Bay, visit Steve Irwin's Australia Zoo, tour Fraser Island, take a scuba live-aboard on the Great Barrier Reef and camp out at Ayers Rock... I think it's all possible - I'll just have to keep eating peanut butter sandwiches!!!

I finally ventured out in the afternoon to Woolworths! Well, I can't at home anymore, can I? They are big supermarkets over here, so I went in for a loaf and some milk. Well, I spotted some beef mince on offer, at just £1.50!! So then I bought all the bits and pieces to go with it for bolognese, my arms nearly fell off after carrying it all back to the hostel! It felt quite weird cooking for the first time after over 3 months of always eating out. But it was delicious, and I got 3 meals out of it, all for about a fiver!!!

On Wednesday - Christmas Eve - it was still grey and miserable. I didn't get much done as for some reason, I felt stupidly tired with no real reason why. That evening, Chris (from Germany), who I had met in the kitchens the previous night, had offered to make us faijitas for dinner, which were extremely delicious, and then after we walked over to Darling Harbour to hear a performance of Christmas Carols, armed with some mince pies! It was good fun, and when the jazz group that were performing got a load of kids to join in, we laughed so hard at Angus, a perky little chap who stole the show with his HORRENDOUS rendition of Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer!!!

On Christmas Day, it was STILL overcast, so we were at a loss as to what to do with ourselves. Nothing was planned in the hostel for Christmas Day, and we hadn't had the foresight to cook our own Christmas dinner, so our only alternative was to do it like the locals - head down to Bondi Beach! Except the weather was rubbish! Not good, I've been boasting for weeks how I'm in the Southern Hemisphere summer and Sydney lets me down on Christmas Day! We eventually headed over there in the afternoon, and by some miracle, the clouds started to clear just as we arrived. I spent a short time walking along the golden sand, but by this point, I'd lost my friends and was feeling pretty dodgy... I was coming down with something, and for the first time, I actually felt festive because I was ill!!!

Christmas Day on Bondi Beach

So, I hopped back on a bus home and spent the rest of the day in bed! What a damp squib, I will just have to make up for it next week for the NYE Harbour fireworks! Yesterday - Boxing Day - I was still feeling a little peaky, but luckily much better. So in the afternoon, I took a ferry across the Harbour and then I walked back along the Bridge. On the way, I bumped into Katie and so I had a hand to hold climbing up one of the Bridge pylons - as much as I would love to say I walked over the top of the Bridge, I DO NOT want to pay $200 for the privelege of being absolutely terrified. The Pylon Lookout gave me the chance to say that I've been at the top (sort of) and I could take some great photos, all for only $9.50!!! Clever Emma... In the evening, I headed back to Macquarie Point for sunset, where I got to see all the flying foxes out and about, and maybe a possum scuttling up a palm tree, although it was dark by this point, and I can't be 100% sure!!!

So, today I'm off to Glebe as there's supposed to be excellent Saturday markets and perhaps I go to Sydney Aquarium as well... we'll see. I'm heading to Coogee tomorrow to meet with Nicole from Vietnam, and then over to Manly on Monday to meet Emma and Theresa from our dorm, who are moving there tomorrow. Must phone Qantas at some point, still got a few flights to move...

Merry Christmas Melbourne!

Here I am again, back at the library, enjoying free internet access! Well, it's quiet here at the moment, so yesterday I actually spent way over an hour online, so I thought I'd best make the most of it while I can!

I had a very leisurely day yesterday, sorted out some bits and pieces with Qantas - they will charge me $40 to change my flights in person, but it is free over the phone. Thanks for making that clear when I spoke to you last week. Idiots! So, I think I am going to shave 2 weeks off Australia and 4 off New Zealand. That'll mean I hit Chile in mid-March, not the start of May. That'll be 6 months in South America and hopefully I'll be able to organise a way to zip up to Central America as well, funds permitting of course!

I then spent the afternoon geocaching, and found 6 in a few hours, which was good going, it's been a while since I had such a good run. I bet the summer sunbathers in Flagstaff park thought I was a nutjob though, walking from sculpture to flagpole to sundial, taking notes and then rummaging around in a hole at the base of a huge tree!!! Got to keep the locals amused I guess.

Today, it's a glorious summer's day, quite fitting as it's the longest day of the year. Weird - that coupled with Christmas music and decorations in all the department stores. I forgot to mention in my last post my thoughts thus far on Oz. It's expensive (oh yeah, I did mention that). It is also extremely similar to home, which was quite jarring at first. Melbourne is supposed to be the most European of all Australia's cities and the central area where I am staying is very like Manchester. Without the rain. There are big stores and churches and ornate buildings and trams and Christmas trees...

Well, not a Manchester sky...

There are also a high proportion of nutters as well; I thought Australia would bring a little bit of normality back after the madness of Asia, but I've witnessed drunken fights, tramps telling people they have no manners when people don't acknowledge their hellos, schizophrenics having arguments with themselves as they walk down the street, and drunks tripping over themselves as they leave the "bottle shops" - I'd forgotten how bonkers big cities could be!

So, I'd best make the most of my last few hours here - before the 12 hour bus journey to Sydney. It would only take an hour to fly, and would only cost $25 more than the bus. She must be mad, I hear you say... yes, but clever Emma has saved at least $25 on accommodation for tonight, $20 on a transfer bus to Melbourne Airport and probably $20 on the transfer from Sydney Airport. So that's actually a saving of $90, go figure!

There's a few more caches to find today and I am meeting a new Korean friend for dinner - and we are going to eat Korean food, yippee! Anyway, once again, Merry Christmas and don't get too cold over in the Northern Hemisphere!

Australia - Week One

There is likely to be a change in blog entries from this point forward: the length and frequency of posts is probably going to reduce considerably, as Australia is BLOODY EXPENSIVE!!!

I got up early today, to queue outside the State Library of Victoria, just so I can use the internet for free for 60 minutes. Otherwise, we are talking £2 an hour minimum, not 15-50p like in Asia! Anyway, I'm waffling, but from now on, things are going to be a little less detailed!

The flight from Bali went well - Katie had met a Qantas engineer in McDonalds in Kuta earlier in the day, so when we saw him just prior to boarding the flight, he took our names. Imagine how chuffed we were to receive free blanket packs (which on a budget flight, were not complimentary), a free breakfast AND free movies on our own little portable screens! We arrived on time, but it was a hell of a shock to be greeted with British winter weather as we disembarked. Seriously, isn't it supposed to be summer over here now??? Apparently, it hasn't rained like it did at the weekend for years and years... I swear, they knew I was coming.

We checked into the Flinders Station Backpackers hostel and had a nap. Later that afternoon, I wandered around the city, bought a guidebook to the East Coast and booked tickets to go on the Neighbours Tour! It quickly became apparent that this place IS as expensive as I had heard, and I was feeling sick by the time I had spent my weekly budget in 24 hours! And that wasn't my Asia weekly budget, but a new one I thought would be ample for here. Guess not. So I made it a priority to find a Qantas office, so I can cut my time here and in New Zealand by half. Otherwise, I may never make it to South America!!! I'm so pleased that it will cost me $40 to reorganise my flights, when I was assured by Austravel that there would be no charge involved. Not.

On Monday, I did a spot of shopping - tights, jumper, pyjamas, peanut butter and bread. So I had a little bit of warmth and something to eat for a few days!!! It's like being a student again. We also booked tickets to Philip Island and a hire car to take us along the Great Ocean Road. Well, when in Rome... Off we set on Tuesday morning at 8.30am. We filled up the tank and then just on the outskirts of Melbourne, the car began to judder and the engine maintenance light came on.

We had definitely used the correct fuel, as we'd phoned to check just moments before. So we pulled over, luckily just next to a junction on the motorway. Here's the next few hours in brief:

- Waited by side of road for tow truck to arrive.
- Truck arrives, waited for taxi to collect us to take us back to Melbourne.
- Unload all bags from car to side of road. That's 3 people's worldly goods.
- Taxi no show, load up car with bags.
- Climb into tow truck cab, taxi arrives!
- Unload car, load up taxi, back to Melbourne.
- Taxi driver not told by truck driver where to go, so drive round a bit.
- Get to hire car depot, no cars left and paperwork still in towed car!
- Lift to another depot, bags have been in 3 different vehicles by now.
- Get new car, reload bags, off we set, 3 hours later!!!

So, that was interesting! Anyway, off we set again and soon we were on the Great Ocean Road, passing through places called Peterborough and Torquay, stopping for fish and chips is Anglesea! We took loads of photos at every scenic lookout spot and saw wild koalas sleeping in the trees. It was late when we arrived at Warnambool, and found a friendly little backpackers place with just 3 beds to spare! On Wednesday, we went back down the Ocean Road to a lighthouse we had missed the previous day. So there's even more photos to sort through when I can get to a computer that will let me upload them (the library's services don't stretch that far!)

The Great Ocean Road

Thursday was an early start, up at 6.30, off by 7, in Melbourne just after 10, eventually found accommodation and unloaded the car by 11, returned the car by 12, set off on the trip to Philip Island at 12.30!!! We stopped at a winery for wine tasting (just the whites for me, thanks!), Maru Animal Sanctuary where I got to feed the emus and kangaroos and had the nicest piece of carrot cake EVER, Woolamai Beach on Philip Island, which is absolutely stunning, a great little pizza place for dinner, the Nobbies to see the nesting seagulls and then finally, the Penguin Parade.

Here, hundreds of Little Penguins emerge from the sea at sunset and walk for up to a kilometre, to reach their young who have been waiting patiently for food since daybreak. It was hilarious to see the tiny things come out of the sea and then decide it was too risky and waddle back in again! It was a shame, but it started to rain just as they were coming out of the sea, and we didn't relish the thought of being soaked through all the way back to Melbourne on the bus! At least we saw a few of them, boxed ticked!!!

I needed a lie in yesterday, seeing as it was half past midnight when we got back from Philip Island, but I had to be up early for the Neighbours Tour! It had to be done, but I must admit it was a little disappointing - we drove passed Erinsborough High, took a few photos at the set of the garage (but didn't go inside the studios) and then went to Ramsay Street (or Pine Oak Court as it is really known) itself. It is TINY. Like about the size of my road at home, I swear things look so much bigger on the telly. It was good fun being there though! Then it was back into St Kilda to meet a "star" of the show...

Everybody Needs Good Neighbours...

So we waited outside a closed theatre for a car to arrive and out jumps a girl I do not recognise. Not Karl Kennedy then!!! It turns out it is Michelle Scully, who I do remember after all, even though she actually left the show 4 years ago! She was really nice and chatted to us and gave autographs. Still, it all felt a little bit amateurish, another boxed that just had to be ticked, but another $50 gone...

I then spent the afternoon searching for a doctor's and signing up for Medicare - I've somehow picked up an infection that is manifesting itself in any open wound at all. So all my mosquito bites have gone green. Nice. I got some antibiotics in the end, so I now need to take them all the way up to New Year's Eve. Hope they work or I will look like a leper in my New Year's outfit!!! Best put the tights on, although Sydney is SUPPOSED to be boiling at this time of year. I'll believe it when I see it.

So here I am online. I've half spent next week's budget as well, and it didn't help having to spend $20.50 on a doctor's appointment and $22.50 for the prescription. I'll need to fork out another $22.50 in Sydney for another set of tablets. Damn it. Oh well. So today, I am going to hop on the free tram and tour around the city and maybe visit the Old Melbourne Gaol where you can try on Ned Kelly's armour. Tomorrow, I'll set off geocaching as that's free and will kill the hours until I board the night bus to Sydney. Goodness knows what I'll be doing on Christmas Day, maybe eating peanut butter sandwiches???

It may be another week before I post again, so have a Very Merry Christmas and a drink or two in my honour - I'm on antibiotics!!!

Bye Bye Bali; Adios Asia!

I did indeed take in a dance performance on Tuesday night; I saw the Ramayana Ballet at Ubud Palace. Well, it had moved to a shelter next door because of the rain, but that doesn't sound quite as impressive! It was excellent, I arrived early to get a front row seat, for photos of course, and felt a bit daft sandwiched between two of the biggest zoom lenses I've ever seen. You get yourself a spanking PowerShot G9 and some pillock always has to go one better!!! Anyway, moving on... the dancers, costumes and music were fantastic, I'm sure I had my mouth open all throughout the show in awe! I was amazed by the hand and eye movements of the dancers, I have no idea how they manage to bend one finger backwards, whilst wiggling another side to side on the same hand! I wished I'd have seen a traditional dance show in all the countries I've visited in Asia, but at least I won't be leaving without seeing any at all!

Sita of the Ramayana

On Wednesday, I attended a Balinese cooking class, and as it turned out, I was the only student so I had the instructor's full attention! It was great fun, we headed off to the market to check out the local produce, before returning to the restaurant to begin cooking. It was a little different to the class I took in Chiang Mai - I didn't have as much hands-on experience in one sense (as I shared the preparations with the instructor rather than cooking each dish myself), but I did in another respect as I actually got to chop and grand and mash the ingredients, rather than having everything pre-prepared.

It was great fun and I couldn't wait to sample the dishes by the end of it - Balinese soup with chicken meatballs, pepes (tuna in Balinese sauce, steamed in a banana leaf), chicken satay, saffron (well, turmeric) rice and green vegetables, all finished off with a delicious pancake with palm sugar caramel and coconut! It was delicious and it was a great way to spend a rainy morning in Ubud.

Balinese Cooking at Cafe Bali!

That afternoon, I headed out to the market with Emily (Australia), my next-door neighbour from Donald's. She's been to Bali many times before and so knows what genuinely good prices should be! I only went to get another (cheap) sarong, but I returned with one and a pashmina, dress and two rings, all for less than £10. At last, I actually had excellent bargains and without Emily, I'm sure I'd never secured such good deals. That evening, we saw another dance performance, Kecak and Fire Dance, which was, again, amazing. It involved a large group of Balinese men in traditional garb chanting, swaying, hollering and making sounds like frogs, around a fire. Mesmerising... A little scary when a guy came out and started kicking coconut-husk embers out towards the audience, accompanied with plumes of golden sparks, but it was safe and obviously had been done hundreds of times before. I don't think Health & Safety would have approved though!

On Thursday, I boarded the shuttle bus back to Kuta, and by 11.30am, I was checked back in at Puri Agung and was eating yet more coconut pancakes. Love them, the best thing I've had in Bali so far! Since then, I've not done much to be honest. I'm a little "Asia-ed out" - don't get me wrong, I love Asia, it's like a second home in many ways, but 12 weeks of constantly being on the go here is hard work. I will miss the friendly people, the temples, the scenery, the (sunny) weather, rice, cheap food and accommodation, the culture...

I won't miss the taxi/tuktuk/transport touts, the rats, the drains, the (monsoon) weather, the constant hassle as you walk down the street, the mosquitoes... But all that is a small price to pay as a backpacker, you have to take every day as it comes and make the most of it. I will always have a huge fondness for Asia, it is fantastic and I'm sure there will be times where I miss the craziness of it all. But for now, I'm looking forward to Australia and I'll be in Melbourne tomorrow, which by all accounts sounds great! It will be good to get back to a little "Western" culture. But there's always a downside; I am not looking forward to the costs as I've heard the stories! As long as it isn't more expensive than the U.K., I will cope. I don't imagine I'll find any rooms for 50p a night though! Hope the budget lasts until South America...

I'll be in touch again from Down Under!

Bali Bound!

I've done it again, left a big gap between blog entries! So I'm sketchy on some details, but here's the story in Indonesia so far...

The trip to KLIA LCCT was straightforward - up at 5am, out at 5.30, on metro to KL Sentral station at 6, on bus to LCCT at 6.30, arrived at airport at 7.15, checked in, boarded and took off at 9.40, arrived Bali 12.40pm! Phew!

I was expecting there to be a bit of hassle and waiting at Ngurah Rai International Airport, as you have to organise visas etc, but it was very straightforward, I just handed over $25 and I got yet another nice sticker in my passport! I was soon through baggage and customs and getting heckled by taxi drivers! In short, I went to Tourist Information and found out exactly how much it should cost to get to Kuta and where to get the good taxis. It paid off as I was able to avoid the original tout who thought that $19 for a single room was the best deal in town!

Once in Kuta, I quickly found Puri Agung Homestay and there was a room spare - cheap and friendly, with rooms set around a shady courtyard. I washed some laundry, including my daysack which I decided really needed a wash, given that it was still impregnated with the fish 'juice' from Chiang Mai! However, that odour had been masked by 11 weeks of sweat instead, pooooh!

Then I wandered off to Kuta beach, to do a spot of geocaching and to part with 150,000 rupiahs, on two bracelets and a sarong, all at stupidly high prices as the ladies there were such good businesswomen, they had me hook, line and sinker! Damn, I'm so close to leaving Asia and had thus far escaped the scams! I thought 100,000 rupiahs (down from 350,000) for the sarong was a good deal - it was only later that I heard that you should be able to get the best quality batik ones for no more than 50,000! Oh well, it's only £5 after all!

Beware of Balinese Ladies on the Beach

I met up with KT and Fiona at long last at 11pm that night - they made it to Puri Agung after their flight in from Singapore, and my, did we all have some tales to tell! On Wednesday, we organised transport to the Gili Islands and spent an hour or two on the beach and wandering around the shops. On Thursday morning, it was an early start to take a minibus to Padang Bai, where we then boarded the Gili Cat to Gili Trawangan. It was a quick crossing and once there we met Rupert and his partner (whose name still escapes me!) from New Zealand, who were heading straight off to Gili Air, our island of choice. We soon chartered our own boat there and at
Rupert's recommendation, we had walked across the island in the midday sun to Lombok Indah, cheap beachside bungalows including breakfast with the most hospitable host ever, Anto!!!

That afternoon, we chilled on the beach, and on Friday, more of the same followed! Gili Air is absolutely beautiful and it is incredibly easy just to relax there and do nothing at all! On Saturday, we took a day trip snorkelling on a glass bottomed boat around the Gilis, and saw lots of cool fish and three turtles! All for less than £5!!! Lunch was delicious urap-urap (mixed veg and coconut) on a stretch of white sand on Gili Meno, the smallest and quietest of the islands.

Paradise Found?

The girls decided that they wanted to stay on Gili Air until Tuesday, but I had things to do back on Bali. Admittedly, it was a bit of a wrench to leave paradise, but I knew I would kick myself if I didn't make it to Amed for diving and Ubud for culture! So, off I set alone once more back to Bali on Sunday morning. I met Sandra from Melbourne on the water taxi back to Trawangan, and soon she was giving me loads of great tips for travelling in Oz and I had someone to share the cost of transport to Amed with!

We hit Padang Bai around lunchtime and I needed cash! There were no ATMs on the Gilis, and luckily, I'd had the foresight to get some money in Kuta before we left, but it wasn't enough to get me to Amed and to organise some diving. I knew that there was one cash machine in Padang Bai as the girls had used it on Thursday morning. Could I find a single honest local to tell me where it was? Not really - "No, no ATM here, I change money for you!", "What card you use? WHAT CARD YOU USE??? NO, not accept Visa, I change money for you!" Eventually, I found a nice lady who pointed me in the direction of the bank that I full well knew existed. Indeed, it didn't accept Visa, but...

...for everything else, there's MasterCard! LOL!!!

So, with a little extra money, Sandra and I took a car to Amed and a few hours later, after traipsing the poor driver around a variety of hotels and guesthouses, I settled at Eco-Dive Resort. It had been recommended to me by people at Buddha View and I was pleased that the accommodation was cheap. However, they seemed to be the most expensive for diving! But it was late in the day, hot and sticky, and the area was so remote, I simply didn't have enough energy to shop around. I managed to negotiate a deal for 2 dives for the next day - not as cheap as the competition, but at least I got a discount! And the guy let me use a snorkel and fins that afternoon for free, while I waited for my room to be vacated!

On Monday morning, I was up early and off to Tulamben to dive at the wreck of USAT Liberty Glo with Made, my divemaster, and Benjamin from France who had logged more than 30 dives. All went well, and I was excited about doing my first shore dive, as well as my first wreck! I couldn't remember how many weights I needed though - I'd used four on Ko Tao, but I didn't actually know what size they were. The ones there were round, but on Bali, they were square, so they must have been different... I just took two.

Well, it was obvious I'd got it wrong as I couldn't even descend a metre I was so buoyant! It was quite hilarious, there I was bobbing at the surface while Benjamin and Made were disappearing into the depths below! Made shoved a spare weight into my BCD, and at last I began to sink! The wreck appeared below very rapidly, as it is situated only 40m from the beach. It was a huge hunk of rusty metal, covered with corals and fish of all shaped and sizes.

At one point, we actually swam into the wreck, which had me a little concerned at first until I could see that it was till very open and just like swimming between rocks as I had done on Ko Tao. I spotted a giant barracuda before the others and soon we noticed that a huge grouper was hanging around with it! It was very surreal and at the deepest point, we had descended to 27m, so I wouldn't have been able to dive there, had I not taken the Advanced Open Water course. As we began our ascent, I found it hard to keep level for the safety stop - my buoyancy was still out of whack and Made had to hang on to me and fill my jacket with rocks! I was worried that I had spoiled the dive for Benjamin, with my amateurishness, but when we surfaced, he said how amazing it had been and we had been down there for 50 minutes before I was low on air, which was a pretty decent bottom time!

Later on, it was time for my second dive, this time just me and Made, a little further along the beach at Tulamben Drop Off Wall. I made sure I had 4 weights this time, and after the correct surface interval, we were back in the water! This was another fantastic dive and I saw a huge variety of marine life - batfish, parrotfish, snapper, pufferfish, triggerfish, trumpetfish, moorish idols, emperor fish... at one point, I was convinced I'd spotted a turtle in the depths below. I signalled to Made, who excitedly swam over to look... but alas, it was just a large pufferfish!!! Oh well!

This time around, I had much better buoyancy control, and at one point I was suspended, motionless, with nothing but blue below, blue above and a sheer wall of rock and coral to the side. It was quite incredible and there I was, no fear, just in awe at it all. On our return swim to the beach, we saw a large shoal of yellow snapper, and it was great to see such a large group for the first time since I had learned how to scuba dive. (I'd seen large groups before, but only when snorkelling). When we surfaced, I asked how long we had been down and Made confirmed it - ONE HOUR!!! Woohoo, my record on my birthday was 58 minutes, so I was so pleased to have lasted for the full 60!

After arriving back at the resort and filling in my logbook, I was so exhausted that I spent the rest of the day reading, relaxing and reorganising my rucksack. I also ate only bread as I had run out of money again and had to mind the pennies so I could afford the taxi to Ubud for the following morning, that I had pre-arranged with Sandra. There were no ATMs in Amed either!!!

Anyway, our taxi driver arrived early this morning and Sandra was ready and waiting at her hotel, so we were soon on our way to Ubud. I'm glad I met Sandra as transport in Bali is not particularly cheap, especially when food and accommodation is! It was good to be able to spread the cost! At 11.30, we had arrived and I found Donald's Homestay, right where the Rough Guide said it should be and exactly as described. It is such a quaint little place, I have my own patio overlooking a tiny garden, the shower in the bathroom is set into a rocky wall and breakfast of fruit, pancake and tea is included! Bargain!

A Room With A (Garden) View

There seems to be plenty to do in the area, so I think that I will stay for 2 nights, rather than just the one as I had originally planned. I'm quite tired from all the travelling I've done over the past few days, so I think I'll just relax this afternoon and maybe take in a dance performance this evening. I also need to buy a good sarong, but hopefully I'll not get ripped off again... I'm sure there'll be a tale to tell about it in the next installment!

Hanging High in Malaysia!

The trip to the Cameron Highlands was relatively smooth. Of course, I had left Georgetown in good time to make it to the bus station in Butterworth - which was an hour early! Then I was told the bus would be leaving half an hour later than I'd expected, so indeed I had 90 minutes to kill!

I arrived in Tanah Rata by mid-afternoon and soon met up with Sarah, Lucy and Rachel from the UK. We were soon all ponchoed up and braving the rain to Twin Pines (or Twin Peaks as I kept calling it), a cute little guesthouse with a cheap room for 4! Bonus! There we met Suresh and Wan, the friendly staff who helped us settle in in no time and kindly advised us not to book a pricey tour around the area, but to hike up Mount Brinchang ourselves! Out came a map, and soon we had details of which local bus to catch, where to get off, how long the route should take, and where to get tea and scones on the way down! Wan also recommended we hitchhike back - or even flag down a police car, as they'd be happy to give us a lift!

So, on Wednesday morning, off we set to the bus station and were soon dropped off at the base of the mountain, ready to ascend. Now readers, you may remember that I wasn't overly keen on the trekking I did in Chiang Mai, but we all thought that as a small group of 5 (including Courtney from Australia) that we'd be able to go at our own pace, and not have a mad guide up at the front, with no patience for the slow ones (i.e. me!) The climb was steep in parts and we did take plenty of rest stops, but it was good fun. I'd elected to keep on my sandals, rather than my hiking trainers, as I had only just got the mould out of them from Chiang Mai! So, my feet got very muddy, very quickly. Indeed, after a short time, I stopped bothering to work out the cleanest route, I just stomped right through the mud!

All the girls thought this was hilarious, and especially so when I was knee deep in "quickmud" and asking how Bear Grylls recommended you extract yourself from said situation! The last 100m stretch was incredibly tricky and involved using tree roots as a ladder up to the top, with a particularly muddy stretch through a tunnel of branches. We did take our time, but 2 hours 20 minutes was a pretty respectable ascent. At the top, I braved the observation tower, as not to miss the spectacular views, even though much was shrouded by the clouds...

View from Gunang Brinchang

Then it was a simple task of walking along a paved road, all the way down again. This was actually more strenuous than the upward climb as there was nowhere to clean my muddy feet, which were sliding around in my sandals! It took a fair while to make it to the glorious tea plantations below, spectacular swathes of green, stretching out over the hills. So, by 1pm, we decided we more than deserved a scone, slab of chocolate melt and a hot cuppa each!

We did indeed hitchhike back with a kindly Malaysian guy in a pickup truck - 2 in the cab, 3 in the back, the latter (including myself) thought it would be more fun, until the rain became torrential and we nearly froze! Rachel and Lucy were in hysterics throughout - I was not and it took several hours back at Twin Pines for me to dry out, clean off and warm up. Not impressed! That evening, we just chilled out at the guesthouse, Wan gave me lots of advice about Kuala Lumpur and how to travel around all the bits of S.E. Asia I've missed this time.

On Thursday, we were off to Kuala Lumpur, home of the Petronas Towers, tallest buildings in the world... until 2004!!! It was another lengthy (i.e. lengthier than we had be told) bus trip, but pretty painless. Pretty painful was the walk to the guesthouse Wan had recommended, especially as Indiemma Jones took the group on a wild goose chase all around the city... well, the map wasn't to scale!!! Eventually, we made it to Pondok Lodge, which was more than double the price of Twin Pines, but after the heat and heavy loads on our back, no one had the energy to find an alternative. However, after only one night of thumping bass from a bar below, everyone decided to join me when I said I'd be moving quarters!

On Saturday, we were too tired to get to the Towers early enough to secure a ticket up to the Skybridge, so after moving to the Green Hut Lodge around the corner, (same price, quieter but smelling of sewage and durians...), we headed out for the day on the Hop-On Hop-Off open tour bus. It was very pleasant and we stopped off for lunch and a nosey at the Towers anyway. It was less pleasant by the end of the day as the traffic was horrendous and it took 90 mins to make it but a few miles, but luckily we made it back home before the afternoon monsoon kicked in. That evening, we splashed out on a rather expensive meal at a rather expensive Korean restaurant! We had bimimbap and it was excellent and really authentic - and at £6 each, still a bargain, just 4 times more expensive than our usual Asian dinners! Plus, I got to speak lots of Korean to the owner, showoff!!!

Sunday was the day - our alarms went off at 6am and we were in the queue for the Skybridge by 7am, and even then there were still a fair few people in front of us. It was a long wait, but we made it into the first group to ascend at 9am. The lift was incredibly fast - 41 floors in seconds - and then we got only 10 minutes on the bridge, but it was a box that just needed to be ticked and was worth the wait! It was then time for breakfast, which I got Josh and Ben (would I'd last seen in Nha Trang) to buy for me - well, when they bumped into us in the queue at 8.30 and asked my to get tickets for them, it was only fair payment for not having to get up at the crack of dawn like we did!!!

Josh, Ben and I headed off to the KL Tower that afternoon, which afforded better views of the city and a great chance to look back upon the Petronas Towers from high up. After grabbing dinner in Chinatown, we walked back to them that evening to see them lit up at night...

88 Floors of Magic!

Yesterday, Ben and I took a bus out to Batu Caves (and went back to the Towers AGAIN last night, but that was so he could buy a travel guide for Oz!) and today I dragged the poor chap around the city looking for geocaches! We had a 66% success rate, so I can't complain, although it took hours longer than anticipated and it was soooo hot!!! Anyway, I've repacked my bag for the flight to Bali tomorrow (i.e. crammed all the heavy stuff and books into my daysack) and I'll be up at 5.30am in order to make it to the airport by 7.45! Kuala Lumpur International - 70km outside Kuala Lumpur! How does that one work??? Oh well, I'll let you know from Bali...